Northern Stars Seminar is an annual youth entrepreneurship event in Rovaniemi, Finland. It is organized by a team of Lapland UAS international students, in close co-operation with student union InnoBarentsLab. The aim of this event is to promote international youth entrepreneurship in the Barents region, by inviting experienced business experts from around the world as speakers for the event. Students have an excellent opportunity to listen to real-life entrepreneurial stories, and get valuable insights on succeeding in working life.

Arctic Workshop Day on Thursday 19.4.2018

On Thursday 19.4 the event was kicked off with Arctic Workshop Day. Anzelika Krastina, Northern Stars Seminar project supervisor and senior lecturer at Lapland UAS, opened up the day with a welcoming speech. After that Jenni Rajahalme, JCI Finland 2017 National President and Partner at Kumppania Oy, held a speech via Skype about the importance of networking. She reminded everyone to be kind to one another, because you never know if they are going to lead to future partnerships.

T​hen it was time for students to take over the stage, and show their skills as workshop organizers! First up was Magical Inspiration workshop, which started on high spirits with motivational video and speech. This was followed by magician Juha-Matti Ristiharju´s speech on the realism of entrepreneur life and his magic tricks.

Creating a startup in the North workshop focused in a holistic view of a business based on what is visible to people inside or outside the company and what kind of worldview the company culture holds. Guest speaker Anu Harju-Myllyaho, project planner at Lapland UAS, talked about startup myths.

Anu Harju-Myllyaho. Photo: Christie Leung

Esa Posio with participants. Photo: Christie Leung

Arctic Workshop Day on Thursday 19.4. ended with the third workshop Be The Next Entrepreneur. Team together with quest speaker Esa Posio held an intensive brainstorming session concentrating on the profitability and applicability of business ideas.

Northern Stars Seminar main event on Friday 20.4.2018

​First half of the main day was called Business Opportunities in the Arctic, hosted by Teppo Säkkinen, management student from University of Lapland. Opening speech was held by Reijo Tolppi, Vice President of Lapland UAS. He wanted to bring up the potential of the Arctic and how it will look like in the future. After that topics like entrepreneurship, career path and future of the Arctic were brought up in speakers’ speeches.

Reijo Tolppi. Photo: Nichola Chow

Teppo Säkkinen. Photo: Nichola Chow

Robbie Patterson. Photo: Nichola Chow

"If you're an entrepreneur, you have to learn how to lose. And learn how to lose and learn from it. Because if you don't learn from it, you are just going to keep on banging your head down, and eventually you're going to quit." Nutmegger PR entrepreneur Robbie Patterson, USA told about his business and shared his knowledge about startup opportunities in Lapland.

Keynote speaker of the day, Heikki Autto (Chairman of the Rovaniemi City Council) showed why Arctic matters, and why young talents need a platform to shine. It was important for students to meet such a talented local person, who truly sees the potential of the Arctic.

Heikki Autto. Photo: Nichola Chow

Duong Nguyen. Photo: Nichola Chow

"If you are preparing to be an entrepreneur, make sure you follow the right directions. If you are still considering where to go, just please explore yourself, explore your choices, explore what you like and what you can do for the society. And of course, if you need any support during the process, don't hesitate to ask for it." Duong Nguyen, Co-founder of Lean In Vietnam & Lapland UAS alumni shared why social entrepreneurship can change the world.

Head of European Innovation Management & Lapland UAS alumni, Martin Scott: “Open innovation will play a key role in developed economies over the next decade.” He has co-founded Vision2020 Horizon Network Programme and Crowdhelix Collaboration Intelligence.

Martin Scott, UK. Photo: Nichola Chow

During the lunch break there was “Napalaakso tutuksi” –event, where students studying in virtual learning environment at Lapland UAS got to present their businesses.

Thomas Draper. Photo: Nichola Chow

Creative Entrepreneurship in the Arctic and beyond –session began right after lunch, hosted by Thomas Draper (Arctic Lifestyle, Lapland UAS BBA –student).

First speaker for the afternoon was Umed Azizov (ITSCW - Executive Group of The World Bank Group), through Skype all the way from Washington D.C! He is also an alumni from Lapland UAS. He summed everything up pretty perfectly: “It will never get easier, but we get better.”

Umed Azizov, USA. Photo: Nichola Chow

After Umed’s speech, the audience got the chance to hear more about what happened behind the scenes of the seminar. Northern Stars Seminar project manager Nina Niskala and executive assistant Laura Ukkola shared their experiences as organizers. They also told about student union InnoBarentsLab, which is great opportunity for students in LaplandUAS to get practical experience on international projects.

Minttu-Mari Haverinen, CEO & owner at Haffuer Office pointed out that it is really important to find out what is different about you compared to others. That is an excellent base to start making business with.

Minttu-Mari Haverinen. Photo: Nichola Chow

Johan Berglund. Photo: Nichola Chow

Johan Berglund, teacher and Barents entrepreneur from Luleå, Sweden: ” You just need to figure out what it is you're exceptionally good at doing. I think that is something you need to discuss with your friends, because they know you lot better than you think. Use that!"

"Nordjobb is a Nordic labour market exchange programme, that arranges seasonal work for young people in the Nordic countries. Nordjobb also assists the applicant in finding accommodation and offers recreational activities during the summer months." –Eeva Väisänen & Leena Höglund, Nordjobb

Eeva Väisänen & Lena Höglund. Photo: Heli Herttua

Anzelika Krastina. Photo: Nichola Chow

​After that, Anzelika Krastina (senior lecturer at Lapland UAS) closed the day shortly by thanking everyone for their participation, especially the organizers.

Northern Stars Pitching on Saturday 21.4.2018​

As final step of this year’s event, students organized Northern Stars Pitching event at Kauppakeskus Revontuli on Saturday 21.4. It is a competition providing a platform for students to present their business ideas in front of a professional jury.

Seven teams presented their innovative business ideas, and they we’re all amazing!New business ideas included Brazilian steakhouse, Anticafe, professional hockey camp in France, recycled furniture service, parcel service in Cameroon, Rovaniemi city app and Mio Carino online store.

Veli-Matti Heikura and.Sara Samu. Photo: Nichola Chow

During the breaks, beatboxer Bogdan, local dance group Veeta and singer Taneli Laurinolli performed for the audience. It helped to create more relaxed atmosphere for the students pitching their ideas.

Bogdan Molchanov. Photo: Audrey Champigny

Dance group Veeta. Photo: Audrey Champigny

The recycled furniture service idea by Roma Shamray was selected as winner of the day in the following Northern Stars After Party at Café Koti. Singer Laurinolli continued to entertain the audience while all of the members and attendees of the seminar got to relax and mingle with each other, signing the end for Northern Stars Seminar 2018.